5 Citizen-Centric Sessions You Cannot Miss at SCEWC16

Gathering over 600 cities and more than 14.000 visitors, the Smart City Expo World Congress brings together urban leaders from Nov 15-17 in Barcelona. This year’s edition is focused on the role of smart citizens in a smart city.

“The city must be created not only for citizens but also with them. We want to take advantage of the great technological improvements produced year by year to make a qualitative leap in the capacity of debate and exchange between the event attendees.” – SCEWC16

Below you can find an overview of the most promising citizen-centric talks (in chronological order). Between these different sessions, make sure come say hi to us at booth 30 in the 4YFN Startup Village — we’d be happy to introduce you to our approach for enhanced civic engagement in the digital age.

1. Proactive City Data Governance

Tuesday Nov 15 at 11:30 in Room 4

Many cities around the world have woken up to the promise of data as it offers new insights and ways of delivering better services to citizens. Yet, active governance is needed to address strategic challenges and anticipate opportunities. What are the fundamental questions city governments should be asking themselves before diving into data? What are the regulatory issues to be solved so that the benefits of data analysis are maximized?

2. Enhancing Civic Engagement in the Digital Age

Tuesday Nov 15 at 14:00 in Room 2

Participatory digital media, such as social networking sites and mobile devices allowing users to interact, have grown more important in recent years as a venue for civic engagement, learning and debate. Still, there is a civic empowerment gap in areas where media access is limited. How can city managers promote an active engagement of communities and encourage them to participate in civic life online to drive social change?

3. Co-Cities Advancing Collaborative Urban Development

Wednesday Nov 15 at 13:00 in Room 2

Collaboration with citizens to realize potential benefits deriving from practices of social innovation is an emerging challenge for many cities. How can this collaboration be promoted to enable various kinds of collective action having a significant impact on urban development? How can cities be transformed into Co-Cities, that is Collaborative Cities, contributing to a higher quality of life?

4. Data for Urban and Social Transformation

Wednesday Nov 15 at 13:00 in Room 2

Data is said to be the new gold and it has certainly become crucial for fulfilling the vision of smart cities. But what does the data revolution mean for urban and social transformation? To what extend can the enhanced use of data by cities help improve services, inform local decision-making and engage citizens? How to balance the tensions between Open Data, and Privacy and Security? And how to leverage the opportunities for open and shared data?

The second of the 4YFN Awards Smart City edition has been created to distinguish emerging companies that prove a high impact mobile solution to enhance the wellbeing of citizens. This final will bring to the stage the 5 best startups specialized in smart urban solutions: COMODULE, Vessla, CitizenLab, Energy Elephant, wesmartPark. They will pitch in front of the jury and the audience and become the best startup of this edition.

Meet CitizenLab at SCEWC16

The CitizenLab team will be present during the three-day conference. We’d be happy to meet you and have a discussion about civic engagement and smart governance. Bring us a visit at booth nr. 30 in the 4YFN Startup Village, and make sure to come watch us pitching on Thursday 17/11 as from 15h20.

Founder of CitizenLab. On a mission to shape local democracies for the digital age. Proud Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe & YTILI Fellow. Talk to me about #Brussels, #Europe, civic tech, philosophy, public policy on Twitter @WietseVR.